Unwritten DMing rules: the use of dice

[aia_2]

Hello, i just wanted to hear the ideas/experiences on some points about what is your though on the use of dice to reach top level of DMing.

1. Do you always keep hidden the dice results? If not, in which circumstances you disclose them?

2. Do you cheat to keep "balance" or "consistency"? Why and in which specific circumstances? Pay attention, please: this question doesn't aim to discuss about adjusting results for railroading purposes.

3. Do you tend to "overthrow" dice so that you have some results in advance? It happens a DM needs to have a result without showing to the players that he rolls the dice... Should you not "overthow", how do you manage to have a "secret roll"?

 

[Yora]

Any time the result of a roll will be immediately obvious to the players, I either roll the dice in the open or let the players make the roll. And I tell the players in advance which number will make something happen.
When it's time to make a random encounter check, I tell the players to roll a d6 or d8 and that they will run into something on a 1.*

I have started to never change a dice roll because the result would be annoying for the players. Because when you choose to ignore some unoleasant rolls, when do you plan to choose having bad things happen to the PCs. When you choose that bad things don't happen, you automatically choose when bad things happen. And rolling dice becomes pointless.
Things that happen to the PCs should happen because of the players' actions and because of random luck. That's when the decisions of the players matter. If things happen the way the GM decides it, then the decisions of the players don't matter anymore.
And then why are we even playing this game?

An exception is the No Stupid rule. When I roll on a random table for monsters for example, and the monster that comes up just really makes no sense for the current area (because I made a mistake when I choose that random table for that area), then I just roll again.
If it's already established that the whole dungeon is warded against undead, but my "Ruined Temple table" shows skeletons, then that result makes no sense. It was my mistake to use the Ruined Temple table, even though there are creatures on it that can't exist in this area.

A very good rule of thumb is: Fudge to fix your own mistakes, not the mostakes of the players. The GM's job is to make the world make sense, not to decide what happens to the PCs.

* This means there can't be randomly encountered NPCs whi spot the party first, hide before being seen, and follow them around until the best moment to come out. (Though you can say the NPCs followed them around for a while and choose to come out now, though it might not be the best moment to do so.) But that is a tradeoff I think is totally worth it.

 

[RivetGeekWil]

1. Do you always keep hidden the dice results? If not, in which circumstances you disclose them?

Nope.

2. Do you cheat to keep "balance" or "consistency"? Why and in which specific circumstances? Pay attention, please: this question doesn't aim to discuss about adjusting results for railroading purposes.

Nope

3. Do you tend to "overthrow" dice so that you have some results in advance?

Nope.

It happens a DM needs to have a result without showing to the players that he rolls the dice... Should you not "overthow", how do you manage to have a "secret roll"?

I don't ever have any results that I can't show to the players, so this isn't an issue.

 

[Campbell]

A fair number of the games I run do not have the GM roll any dice, but when I run games where I roll dice I do so in the open.

 

[Aldarc]

Whether it is Fate, Cortex, D&D, ICRPG, Worlds Without Number, Index Card RPG, Fantasy AGE, or some other game where the GM rolls, it's my policy to roll in the open for the players. There are other ways to tweak encounters on the fly than fudging the dice.

 

[dragoner]

Big caveat here is that I roll only when results are interesting, and try to have that be as much as possible. Otherwise in the open with the players cognizant of what the rolls are for, and without "fudging". Sometimes I will get a little tricky like have a player roll perception, and use that result for the table as well.

 

[bloodtide]

So:

1.About 50/50. I generally don't "hide" rolls, but the players won't know what the roll is for and just see the number.

2.Never. My game has no balance or consistency. I like a disruptive game. I let the dice rolls change anything and everything.

3.I don't really need a "secret" roll, though again the players might not know what a roll is for or the result.

 

[pointofyou]

I mostly keep the results of the dice I roll secret from the players.

I do not change the results of the dice I roll.

I sometimes roll a bunch of dice and line them up so the players don't know I'm using a die roll for whatever.

I agree with the statement above about ignoring dice results on random tables and suchlike if they're stupid or nonsensical results. And I agree with the statement above about only fixing my mistakes. The players can live with whatever consequences arise from their mistakes.

 

[dumdragon]

I do 99.9% of my rolls out in the open. I do make fake rolls and grin occasionally while pretending to look something up though.

 

[Blue]

Hello, i just wanted to hear the ideas/experiences on some points about what is your though on the use of dice to reach top level of DMing.

1. Do you always keep hidden the dice results? If not, in which circumstances you disclose them?

If the players know a roll is getting made (most of them), I roll it in front of them.

Their characters live in the world, and should be able to tell things like "even though the ogre was really sloppy on his attack (a 7), it's immense strength was more than enough to bash through the paladin's armor and wound him". Seeing the dice helps get that information to the players should known from what their characters experience.

If they don't know that, for instance, someone is following them, I'll roll the stealth check secretly just not to let them know about the check.

2. Do you cheat to keep "balance" or "consistency"? Why and in which specific circumstances? Pay attention, please: this question doesn't aim to discuss about adjusting results for railroading purposes.

The DM shoudn't cheat. Ever. That said, some games like D&D grant the DM authority to do things that would be cheating in other games, like a Powered by the Apocalypse game that have very defined rules for the GM.

In a game like D&D, I will occasionally fudge, though usually something besides the dice. For instance, if the last monster in a combat gets hit and gets left with 1-2 HPs and there's no tension or realistic attrition* they could cause, I'll say the blow killed them. Pacing is more important than extending an already done-deal combat that has nop tension left in it. (Realistic attrition - if they go next and have something meaningful they can do, I'll keep them around.) Same as when a PC got a crit against their nemesis that left them with 4 HPs - you know what it's a better story to tell how you finished off your nemesis with a crit then some other PC dribbles in that last damage. Neither of these would change outcomes.

And there are legitimate decisions a DM can make that aren't cheating but will affect the outcome. For example they can decide how fast reinforcements arrive. A good way to keep a combat with high tension without haivng it either drag or become too overwhelming. (Only moderately overwhelming, so that the chgaracter have something dramatic to hope to overcome.) But not to save characters from themselves - if the PCs let the guards ring a gong they know they need to leave post haste if they don't want to handle every guard in the area showing up.

3. Do you tend to "overthrow" dice so that you have some results in advance? It happens a DM needs to have a result without showing to the players that he rolls the dice... Should you not "overthow", how do you manage to have a "secret roll"?

I roll dice secretly whenever I want. Sometimes it has meaning, like the instance above were someone is following them. Sometimes it's just me rolling a die for no reason.

I've seen DMs pre-roll a bunch of 20s. It's fine, though personally I feel I might be swayed knowing what numbers are coming up. I've seen GMs with a silent die roller on their phone so they can roll secretly without being obvious. Whatever works for you.